In the late 1800s women who came from wealth were often sent away for disgracing their families in one way or another. These "women of ill repute" were sent to institutions such as, Inwood Parks "House of Mercy" that served drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, runaways, tuberculosis patients, and promiscuous girls. In 1863 the Sisters of Saint Mary took charge of the home for little to no pay, though they themselves were nearly bankrupt. Their plan was to help save these women and guarantee their safety when sent away, rather than let them end up somewhere awful. As is stated in Sister Harriet Starr Cannon, the founder of this home's, biography-
“As the early spring and summer came we were able to give out-door pleasures to the girls, which helped them very much, for their confinement in the House during the entire winter was a little irksome to them.
In the early days of the Institution we did not know the best way to manage them. We gave ourselves more trouble and them more care than was really necessary. For instance, if any of the girls got away we would think it our duty to spend our time in search of them: entire days were spent by the Sisters in looking up a girl. Now, of course, it is quite different. We have only to send a description of the missing one to a police station, and she is very soon returned to us.”
This statement shows us where the home starts to go downhill, when the caretakers begin to give less care, the inpatients/ institution begins to go wayward.
In May of 1891 relocated the home to its current demolition site, at the top of Inwood Park. At the launch of the relocation, Bishop Henry Codman Potter along with the Sisters of Saint Mary, took a stricter charge of the institution, treating the girls in the ward more as inmates, rather than patients. They began to shut the girls from the outside world, boarding up their windows, no longer taking them outside, or allowing them to enjoy any aspect of their lives. The center took on a new cult-religion stance in treating the girls- The New York times had this to say about their visit to the girls home-
"...Iron gratings guard each door and lighter ones are fastened across each window. They are twisted and convoluted and intertwined in an artistic manner, but they are bars nevertheless, and strong ones at that.”
The home was no doubt a prison of sorts to keep the girls locked away from the general public, and to re-teach them the proper ways to live, through the bible, as a 'respectable woman'. The conditions of the incredibly over populated home were inhumane, to say the very least- reports began to speculate interest in the public, who heard that "cruel and unusual punishments, isolation cells, and bread and water diets were routine behind the walls of the House of Mercy."
In 1896 a lawsuit was brought about by a woman by the name of Laura Forman, suing the institution and her own father for her wrong and unjust incarceration. The suit ended in a settlement of $25,000 and great attention from the public.
Another woman, 19 year old Harriet Farnham decided it was in her best interest to bring up a lawsuit against her father and the state institution, though this suit was more personal, it still gained the attention of the media and exposed only a small portion of the cruel workings of the House of Mercy.
In March of 1919, the world was beginning to change. The institution was no longer receiving the 'necessary funding' to keep the wards open, and by 1921, had been shut down permanently and was taken over by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The shelter became a temporary home and safe-haven for neglected and abused children seeking solace in an even crueler world. These children found a home in the former hellhole, and the once evil institution was over ruled by better times.
Included here are some pictures of the grounds/ inmates of The House of Mercy.
The 'House of Mercy' at Inwood Park
History-
In the late 1800s women who came from wealth were often sent away for disgracing their families in one way or another. These "women of ill repute" were sent to institutions such as, Inwood Parks "House of Mercy" that served drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, runaways, tuberculosis patients, and promiscuous girls.In 1863 the Sisters of Saint Mary took charge of the home for little to no pay, though they themselves were nearly bankrupt. Their plan was to help save these women and guarantee their safety when sent away, rather than let them end up somewhere awful.
As is stated in Sister Harriet Starr Cannon, the founder of this home's, biography-
“As the early spring and summer came we were able to give out-door pleasures to the girls, which helped them very much, for their confinement in the House during the entire winter was a little irksome to them.
In the early days of the Institution we did not know the best way to manage them. We gave ourselves more trouble and them more care than was really necessary. For instance, if any of the girls got away we would think it our duty to spend our time in search of them: entire days were spent by the Sisters in looking up a girl. Now, of course, it is quite different. We have only to send a description of the missing one to a police station, and she is very soon returned to us.”
This statement shows us where the home starts to go downhill, when the caretakers begin to give less care, the inpatients/ institution begins to go wayward.
In May of 1891 relocated the home to its current demolition site, at the top of Inwood Park. At the launch of the relocation, Bishop Henry Codman Potter along with the Sisters of Saint Mary, took a stricter charge of the institution, treating the girls in the ward more as inmates, rather than patients. They began to shut the girls from the outside world, boarding up their windows, no longer taking them outside, or allowing them to enjoy any aspect of their lives. The center took on a new cult-religion stance in treating the girls- The New York times had this to say about their visit to the girls home-
"...Iron gratings guard each door and lighter ones are fastened across each window. They are twisted and convoluted and intertwined in an artistic manner, but they are bars nevertheless, and strong ones at that.”
The home was no doubt a prison of sorts to keep the girls locked away from the general public, and to re-teach them the proper ways to live, through the bible, as a 'respectable woman'. The conditions of the incredibly over populated home were inhumane, to say the very least- reports began to speculate interest in the public, who heard that "cruel and unusual punishments, isolation cells, and bread and water diets were routine behind the walls of the House of Mercy."
In 1896 a lawsuit was brought about by a woman by the name of Laura Forman, suing the institution and her own father for her wrong and unjust incarceration. The suit ended in a settlement of $25,000 and great attention from the public.
Another woman, 19 year old Harriet Farnham decided it was in her best interest to bring up a lawsuit against her father and the state institution, though this suit was more personal, it still gained the attention of the media and exposed only a small portion of the cruel workings of the House of Mercy.
In March of 1919, the world was beginning to change. The institution was no longer receiving the 'necessary funding' to keep the wards open, and by 1921, had been shut down permanently and was taken over by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The shelter became a temporary home and safe-haven for neglected and abused children seeking solace in an even crueler world. These children found a home in the former hellhole, and the once evil institution was over ruled by better times.
Included here are some pictures of the grounds/ inmates of The House of Mercy.
http://myinwood.net/house-of-mercy/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/orlando-herb/6846933848/in/photostream/ -- pictures of the home
http://thiswritelife.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/house-of-mercy/
http://www.hhoc.org/hist/hospitals.htm